Slide 1 Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices Final Rule These slides and script were presented by AMS in a live webinar on January 18, 2017. While the webinar was not recorded, the audio followed the script provided here. 1 Good morning, and thank you for joining me on this call today. I am Miles McEvoy, Deputy Administrator for the National Organic Program, part of the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, or AMS. Today, I want to talk about a final rule we have just published on organic livestock and poultry practices. I’ll summarize the factors that shaped the development of the rule, discuss public comments we received, and highlight some of the specific requirements of the rule. This webinar will also provide you an opportunity to ask questions about the rule. Slide 2 National Organic Program (NOP) Mission: Ensure the integrity of USDA organic products in the United States and throughout the world Organic Foods Production Act: • To establish national standards governing the marketing of certain agricultural products as organically produced products • To assure consumers that organically produced products meet a consistent standard • To facilitate interstate commerce USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 2 First, I’d like to briefly review who we are and why we regulate the standards for organic foods and production. The National Organic Program, or NOP, which resides within the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, exists to ensure the integrity of products that are marketed as organic. The program is authorized by the Organic Foods Production Act, passed by Congress in 1990. The NOP ensures the integrity of organic products, in part, by establishing and enforcing clear standards. Clear organic standards are essential to ensuring consumer confidence in the organic market. In 2015, the organic market was worth over $43 billion in the U.S. sales alone. Clear rules also allow for effective enforcement and fair competition among certified organic livestock producers. The purpose of the Organic Foods Production Act, part of the 1990 Farm Bill, is to establish national standards governing the marketing of certain agricultural products as organically produced products, to assure consumers that organcically produced products meet a consistent standard, and to facilitate interstate commerce. This rule, specifically, will serve to assure consumers that organically produced livestock products meet a consistent standard, by resolving the current ambiguity about outdoor access for poultry. The rule also establishes health and welfare requirements for raising, transporting, and slaughtering organic livestock and poultry. Slide 3 Overview Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices • Final rule Publication in Federal Register on January 19, 2017 • Proposed rule Published April 13, 2016, with 90-day comment period Website link (final rule) • www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic- livestock-and-poultry-practices USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 3 The rule I will discuss was published as a proposed rule on April 13th 2016 with a 60-day comment period that was subsequently extended for an additional 30- days. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register [tomorrow] but can be previewed today. We are also publishing a portion of our analysis of the final rule in the docket at regulations.gov. We have dedicated a webpage on the AMS web site that links to the rule and provides other related information. We are providing a link to the webpage in the chat bar now, and it was included in an Organic Insider email that we sent earlier today. Slide 4 Livestock Practice Standards • Origin of Livestock • Feed • Health Care (revised) • Living Conditions (revised and separated into mammalian and avian sections) • Pasture Practice Standard • Transport (new) • Slaughter (new) USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 4 Prior to this rule, the USDA organic livestock standards included requirements in several areas, including: • Describing when the life cycle of an organic animal begins – day old chicks, last- third of gestation (pregnancy) for mammalian livestock, • Allowed feed and forage that may be provided to organic livestock, • Allowed and prohibited practices to care for animal health, and • Living conditions that must be provided, including pasture requirements for ruminant livestock such as cattle, goats, and sheep. This rule builds upon these requirements and also adds new requirements. Slide 5 Section Updates Current Rule Final Rule § 205.238 Health Care § 205.238 Health Care Practices Practices § 205.239 Mammalian § 205.239 Livestock Living Conditions Living Conditions § 205.241 Avian Living Conditions § 205.242 Transport and § 205.242 [Reserved] Slaughter USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 5 Shown here is the relationship between the organization of the regulations under this rule, on the right, to the previous organization of the regulations. As you can see, this rule rearranges the organic regulations by splitting the requirements for living conditions into two separate sections, one for avian species and one for mammalian species. It also adds a new section, 242, for requirements related to the transport and slaughter of organic livestock and birds. The requirements about feed for organic livestock and the requirements about which animals qualify for organic production, Origin of Livestock, are not shown here, as they are not modified by this rule. I’ll go over the specific requirements in these various regulatory sections in further detail later in the presentation but want to return to the reasons and process for developing this rule. Slide 6 Purpose of the Rule 1. Supports statutory objectives under Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 to: • Develop detailed organic standards • Assure consumers of consistent standards 2. Responds to recommendations from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) 3. Addresses a 2010 Office of Inspector General audit 4. Upholds consumer trust in the organic label USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 6 There were a number of factors that prompted AMS to develop this rule. In the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, Congress called for USDA to develop detailed regulations, with notice and public comment, to guide organic livestock standards. When AMS first published organic regulations in 2000 and announced the establishment of the National Organic Program, we also stated that we would work with the National Organic Standards Board, or NOSB, and the public to develop species-specific guidelines and space requirements for organic animals. The NOSB is a citizen advisory committee that advises the USDA. The NOSB has 15 volunteer members who represent the entire organic sector, including: farmers and producers, handlers and processors, consumer representatives, retailers, environmental specialists and natural resource conservationists, a certifying agent representative, and a scientist. In 2011, the NOSB completed a series of recommendations stating that USDA should expand and clarify existing animal welfare provisions in the organic livestock and poultry standards. The NOSB urged the USDA to complete rulemaking that better aligns organic livestock and poultry standards with consumer expectations, especially regarding outdoor access for poultry. The final rule draws upon the NOSB’s recommendations, which were based on years of robust public comment, and is also consistent with feedback from many stakeholders. Additionally, in 2010, a report from the USDA Office of the Inspector General found inconsistent application of outdoor access requirements and recommended that USDA issue guidance to clarify the requirements regarding outdoor access for poultry. The USDA has also received significant stakeholder input, through public comments to the NOSB and the proposed rule. This feedback indicates that most organic stakeholders strongly support rulemaking to better align organic livestock and poultry practices with consumer expectations, organic principles, and the practices of the majority of current organic livestock and poultry producers. Slide 7 Very different “access to the outdoors” With the same label—leads to unfair competition and consumer confusion 7 To provide additional context, we illustrate here one of the primary reasons for developing this final rule. These photos show two certified organic poultry operations and the means by which they provide outdoor access for their organic birds. The top photo shows a house that uses an enclosed “porch” to provide birds with access to the outdoors. The lower photo shows an operation that provides birds with access to an unenclosed outdoor space that includes vegetation, direct sunlight, and more space per bird than the porch above. Recommendations from the National Organic Standards Board stated that the “enclosed porch” is not sufficient to provide outdoor access. The NOSB and numerous public comments supported outdoor areas that included vegetated soil and not allow porch systems to be considered outside or eligible for organic certification. Slide 8 Purpose of the Rule By strengthening standards for organic livestock and poultry production, these provisions aim to ensure that all organic livestock live in pasture based systems, with clear standards for living conditions that support the well-being of the animals. Based on feedback from the organic community and stakeholders, this rule supports continued growth